Author Topic: Rainbow DVD player thread (Read 15274 times)

napalmdog · « **on:** Dec 20, 2004 at 02:30 PM »

got a 38mm slim type rainbow dvd player PDVD-204 model (the one w/ size between the long slim type and the compact type). it was priced at 2,690 but was lowered down by the salesman to 2,500 w/ 1year warranty. my verdict: great value! ive tested other cheap brands within the same price range but this was definitely better. its created in the same plant as the changhong tv's, though im not a big fan of changhong, having a local plant for warranty purposes is a good plus. this almost made me buy a promac before, but when i saw their units... i said nevermind hehehe. this btw looks nice, simple but stylish w/o the unnecessary lights.

http://images2.fotopic.net/?iid=ys150p&outx=600&noresize=1&nostamp=1
http://images3.fotopic.net/?iid=ys150o&outx=600&noresize=1&nostamp=1

it has the same menu system as other generic dvds. it played all my dvds/pdvds even the ones with the dvd9 logo. it has composite, s-video, rca, coax, optical and vga outputs. sound is pretty good for its price, dolby and dts 5.1 decoder, though the volume is a bit low when i try to plug my headphones directly to the rca (but i encounter the same issue with my nextbase as well). it says it can play mp3, wma and jpeg (havent tested wma and jpeg though) and prog scan capable. bottomline, if youre looking for a cheap dvd player, i definitely recommend this

update: i did find one dvd that it cant play, bought a copy of "eternal sunshine of the spotless mind" and it cant be read. my officemate said that it could be because its a true dual layer disc and most cheap generic players arent capable of reading them. but i tried it on my office pc and it was working. i will put in a complete review here once i get to use the unit a bit and find out the specs

napalmdog · « **Reply #1 on:** Dec 22, 2004 at 11:09 AM »

Quote

update: i did find one dvd that it cant play, bought a copy of "eternal sunshine of the spotless mind" and it cant be read. my officemate said that it could be because its a true dual layer disc and most cheap generic players arent capable of reading them. but i tried it on my office pc and it was working.

UPDATE: my rainbow dvd player CAN read the "eternal sunshine" dvd afterall. i figured out that the disc had some lumps on its edges and was causing the disc to stick to the sides of the tray. after filing the lumps, the disc was read by my player! so it turns out that this player can read ALL my dvds!

warning though to other pdvd buyers out there, these defective dvds can eventually shorten the life of your player so if you spot some defects, better fix it or dont play them entirely. its cheaper to buy another copy than to buy another player.

av_phile1 · « **Reply #2 on:** Dec 22, 2004 at 11:35 AM »

I had a Rainbow brand a year ago and is now with an office colleague, still working perfectly. It is another marketing brand under the China-based Changhong company - the largest DVD player manufacturer in the world, according to a net site I read.

eeeBay · « **Reply #3 on:** Jan 12, 2005 at 03:00 PM »

Where to buy the RAINBOW DVD ?? Thanks,

av_phile1 · « **Reply #4 on:** Jan 12, 2005 at 03:08 PM »

Saw one at SM appliance at SM Center, Sucat. Am sure there are many at Uniwide Coastal Mall and in Raon. Mine was bought at Anson's.

p.dividdy2 · « **Reply #5 on:** Jan 12, 2005 at 03:09 PM »

i think Automatic has it...

eeeBay · « **Reply #6 on:** Jan 12, 2005 at 03:15 PM »

Thank you !

napalmdog · « **Reply #7 on:** Jan 13, 2005 at 07:08 PM »

Quote

sound is pretty good for its price, dolby and dts 5.1 decoder, though the volume is a bit low when i try to plug my headphones directly to the rca (but i encounter the same issue with my nextbase as well).

UPDATE: just figured out how to increase the volume if im going to plug it directly to my headphones. i set the digital sound out to RF Remod and the volume increased. I was using Line Mod before which had a lower output. I also like the DTS decoder as it does a great job for DTS tracks.

BGA VI · « **Reply #8 on:** Jan 30, 2005 at 07:39 PM »

hi,

i'm thinking of buying one, any updates ?

napalmdog · « **Reply #9 on:** Jan 31, 2005 at 02:12 PM »

i have an update:

i opened my rainbow dvd last night to re-align the tray (parang sumasabit kasi). i was surprised to find out that the dvd lens was actually a sony. yes you heard me right, a SONY! so there you go, it turns out i actually have a semi-sony dvd player hehe

http://images4.fotopic.net/?iid=yspre4&outx=600&noresize=1&nostamp=1
http://images3.fotopic.net/?iid=yspree&outx=600&noresize=1&nostamp=1

Monzki · « **Reply #10 on:** Feb 01, 2005 at 11:15 AM »

Quote from: napalmdog on Jan 31, 2005 at 02:12 PM

i have an update:

i opened my rainbow dvd last night to re-align the tray (parang sumasabit kasi). i was surprised to find out that the dvd lens was actually a sony. yes you heard me right, a SONY! so there you go, it turns out i actually have a semi-sony dvd player hehe

http://images4.fotopic.net/?iid=yspre4&outx=600&noresize=1&nostamp=1
http://images3.fotopic.net/?iid=yspree&outx=600&noresize=1&nostamp=1

Wow ok ah SONY ang innards ng RAINBOW DVD player!

Teka since binuksan mo yung unit baka ma-void yung warranty mo bro?

I'll check the unit one of these days...

napalmdog · « **Reply #11 on:** Feb 01, 2005 at 11:50 AM »

Quote

Teka since binuksan mo yung unit baka ma-void yung warranty mo bro?

hehe ok lang mahilig kasi ako mangalikot ng electronics kaya di ko natiis

anyway alagang alaga ko naman yung unit and hopefully di ko kelangan gamitin yung warranty hehe

ingat nga pala kung itetest nyo yung lens habang bukas. kaya daw makasira ng mata yung laser ng dvd lens

eeeBay · « **Reply #12 on:** Feb 03, 2005 at 09:42 AM »

Great to hear na semi-sony pala ang rainbow... I'll tell my cousin to consider rainbow also -->> Gusto kasi ng pinsan ko i-credit card (?) para raw mag-earn ng points kaya ayaw niyang kumuha ng sa Raon...

eeeBay · « **Reply #13 on:** Feb 03, 2005 at 09:44 AM »

OO nga raw bro nakaka sira raw ng amats ang laser dapat raw my special "glasses" ? ! ?

p.dividdy2 · « **Reply #14 on:** Feb 26, 2005 at 04:33 PM »

any other updates?... this player is very interesting! nakakita ako ng ibang model na may black bago ata ito goes for P3k.. (2,999... something) even the small one P2,490 black na rin casing niya.. kung sony ang drive nito eh di gawa ng liteon? eh di maganda it will really play anything!

napalmdog · « **Reply #15 on:** Mar 01, 2005 at 11:42 AM »

yes i have tested it and it plays all my dvds, even tested an hdcd on it and it plays flawlessly. not sure about the liteon but this is made under the same plant as changhong tvs

jm33_babe · « **Reply #16 on:** Apr 07, 2005 at 09:57 PM »

i had the rainbow 2023k model and it worked perfectly fine for 2 1/2 years. last december bigla na lang syang nag luko. pag manood kami ng vcd, sa 1st disc ok lang pag ni-load mo na yung 2nd disc biglang mag bi-blink yung display and then mag o-off na. unfortunately di na sya kasama sa warranty :'(.

pina check ko kung ano ang problem ang sabi sa akin yung "module" daw ang sira and advised sa akin ... bumili na lang daw ako ng bagong dvd player dahil mahirap daw maghanap ng module ng dvd. (is it true? i'm still trying to find the specified module para ma repair yung player)

by the way, bumili na rin ako ng bagong dvd player to replace the old one, phillips 642K last february.

p.dividdy2 · « **Reply #17 on:** Apr 07, 2005 at 10:27 PM »

i was supposed to buy a rainbow dvd player today..i think that model is 604..0r 640 anyway its the black faced one worth P2990.. i brought along some "delinquent" dvds meaning dvds which are problematic for nextbase, skyworth & pioneer..all of them played naman kaso lahat ng scenes may ghosting pati subs meron..nakakainis..sayang kasi na play niya lahat ng disc na tinest ko.. wala pa naman fukuda na available dito sa alabang..

p.dividdy2 · « **Reply #18 on:** Apr 11, 2005 at 12:21 AM »

just an update:

I went to another appliance store selling the rainbow dvd and tried it.. it didnt have the ghosting prob...i didnt have my demo discs on hand but i was thinking that tested it already in the previous store so I bought it .. upon arriving home i hooked it up.. turned it on..played my demo discs and it wont play..(remember it played on the other stores unit)..turned the unit off..and wouldnt turn on again! I played with the power switch then the remote and it turned on again.. connected via s-video there was some interference so i switched to rca.. but here comes another prob, the video was fixed to pan & scan..kahit anong galaw mo sa tv options no widescreen..plus i test other discs.. it would pixellate and some would have choppy audio, talk about quality control .. I have come to the conclusion that these china made players are getting worse by the minute..its no use in buying them.. kahit cheap siya, walang kwenta with all these defects and why pay 3k just to expect them to work for a year and then throw it away?..pardon me but isnt that more expensive?.. the early gen china made were better (thats why many of those who bought earlier have theirs still working) but todays models are crap..

btw i returned it to the store and upgraded to..... The Philips 642k.

av_phile1 · « **Reply #19 on:** Apr 11, 2005 at 10:15 AM »

I think every gear, whether branded or not, has its share of lemons. Even well known brands have them. Lesser incidence, perhaps. All in all, I've heard horror stories from both. But I would think there's greater frustration when you get a lemon from a branded gear, that's because you have greater expectations from it, and paid more, than a generic brand.

p.dividdy2 · « **Reply #20 on:** Apr 11, 2005 at 02:47 PM »

but dont i think its better to buy a branded player kapag lemon unit ang nakuha mo eh isolated case kaysa sa china generic na most units are lemons that you expect and most certainly will return to the store to have it serviced? thats too much stress and wasted resources for me..i dont want my buying experience to be like a russian roulette..swertihan ba?

just something for you guys to ponder upon di ba?

bumblebee · « **Reply #21 on:** Apr 11, 2005 at 03:43 PM »

depende sa brand yan. my xenon is still ok. tapos pioneer will handle the repairs pa, just in case.

parang kabuteng nagsusulputan ang mga generics ngayon. dapat maingat tayo. sa panahon ngayon, bawal magkamali

napalmdog · « **Reply #22 on:** Apr 11, 2005 at 04:19 PM »

still have my rainbow dvd player wala pa ring problem. maganda naman pag play ng movies ko, no ghosting or whatever, ok naman sound pero depende sa dvd. baka naman yung mga naencounter mong problem ay sa dvd discs? kung pirated yang mga yan, yung ibang pirated wala talagang widescreen, yung iba isang mode lang ang audio, yung iba may hissing sound, pixelation, etc. ganun talaga pirated wala naman quality control yun

for me, kung pang araw2 lang naman ok na sakin generics like nextbase. tong rainbow is a budget player and you shouldnt expect much or compare it with branded ones. pero in my opinion, sulit yung nabili ko kasi it fills what i need in a dvd player at a cheap price

p.dividdy2 · « **Reply #23 on:** Apr 12, 2005 at 03:57 PM »

Im not new to ht and already watched the discs in widescreen sa nextbase at pioneer kaya i know what it looks like (taray ba? ehehehe).. and lahat ng ws discs mapapayat ang mukha ng actors ..anyway its playing smoothly sa philips now kaya i have no more problems..

av_phile1 · « **Reply #24 on:** Apr 12, 2005 at 04:41 PM »

There are video settings to choose from even among generic brands. So with the proper setting, any WS DVD will look with the same aspect ratio as in any branded player.

p.dividdy2 · « **Reply #25 on:** Apr 13, 2005 at 01:20 AM »

if you will follow my previous post.. i mentioned that one of the defects of the rainbow player that i got was that it had pan & scan locked even though the menu had 3 options to choose from nothing happens when i choose letterbox..maybe if i exchanged my unit to the same model then maybe it would work but as i said i was tired of going back and forth to the store etc.. the rest is history...

marcel · « **Reply #26 on:** May 01, 2005 at 06:14 PM »

I just returned my Rainbow PDVD-604 this afternoon to Ansons. It suddenly began to stop reading discs (any) a few weeks ago. Kinda disappointed as it was doing okay since i bought it last December 30.

First bad sign was when I walked through the store's entrance. Security guard asks me what I'm carrying in, and I say "DVD player lang, papa-service." To which he asks me if it was a Rainbow, I say yes. and he nods at me (At this point I'm going uh-oh).

The really sad part was when I was filling out the receipt form at Anson's service center, another customer came along and looked at my player, then said "sirain talaga yan". I would've let that slide until I saw that he had in his hand, his repair reciept with the exact same model as mine. The service center guy went kinda silent at this point, after basically assuring me that the repair would go smoothly.

Anyway, I can't do anything about it and will just have to wait for their update. BTW, the service center guy said that the "No Disc" problem was with the "spindle motor", which I take to mean the motor that drives the disc around. Do you think this is the case? I would think that the laser assembly got misaligned somehow, rather than a problem with the motor.

As I said, I like this player a lot, and maybe the other customer and I just got lemons. Hopefully.

napalmdog · « **Reply #27 on:** May 31, 2005 at 07:10 PM »

sad to hear those problems with your units. sana maayos pa yang mga yan

as for mine. buhay pa din ang unit ko. although pansin ko ngayong summer pag di nadadaanan ng electic fan, nagooverheat sya. pag nag overheat, mag black and white ang screen. so you have to let it cool down for 2-5mins bago bumalik sa normal.

but to fix this, kelangan mo lang ilagay sya sa nadadaanan ng electic fan and not inside a tv rack or cabinet

also have some problems with "oversized" pirated dvds kasi parang sumasabit sya sa disc tray. kaya pag mukhang malaki o may sobra-sobrang plastics yung binigay saking dvd pinapapalitan ko. anyway i wouldnt want to play those oversized discs in an original dvd player as well, kaya ok lang

av_phile1 · « **Reply #28 on:** Jun 01, 2005 at 01:14 PM »

Quote from: napalmdog on May 31, 2005 at 07:10 PM

also have some problems with "oversized" pirated dvds kasi parang sumasabit sya sa disc tray. kaya pag mukhang malaki o may sobra-sobrang plastics yung binigay saking dvd pinapapalitan ko. anyway i wouldnt want to play those oversized discs in an original dvd player as well, kaya ok lang

Oversized discs? Pls explain.

napalmdog · « **Reply #29 on:** Jun 01, 2005 at 03:22 PM »

Quote

Oversized discs? Pls explain.

those pirated discs which have some imperfections (ex. not properly centered disc hole or yung may sobrang plastic on the edges of the disc making them larger than usual). sumasabit kasi sa disc tray ko yun since masikip yung tray or eksakto lang sa normal discs. what i do to those pdvds if i cant get another copy is just file the edges para maalis yung sobrang plastic